Unwind With These Books That Can Make The World (And Your Garden) A Better Place

It’s a hectic time of year! But now it’s time to take some “you” time and unwind with some good books. Our selection of reads below will get you dreaming of the gardening season ahead and might even help you cope with climate-related anxiety we’ve all felt at one point or another. It’s time to reset, reboot, and plan for the future! Happy growing and reading.

Are you a city dweller looking to create a beautiful and productive oasis in your space? Look no further than this book! The pages feature gorgeous pictures of lush urban landscapes on balconies, patios, rooftops, and front stoops, along with over 100 tips to make it happen at your home. Never waste another square inch again! The authors, Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight, offer innovative tactics to create fun, high-yielding spaces that grow up, down, and all around. Learn how to install planting pockets on walls, use lightweight grow bags on your rooftop, and build a salad table. Are you longing for more space but can’t make it happen? Jentz and Speight have you covered, offering design tips for making a tiny space feel enormous. Learn which plants are best for attracting urban pollinators and blocking the noise from nearby traffic. It’s all about layering, and this book will inspire you to turn your concrete jungle into… well, a jungle.

The last few years have been difficult for us all, and the weaknesses and instability of the global food system have shown themselves. With food insecurity affecting millions worldwide, Ashlie Thomas wants to help people reclaim their right to nutritious food and empower them by growing their food at home. A health coach and food security advocate, Thomas (AKA, The Mocha Gardener) guides first-time gardeners through site selection, seed starting, harvest, and everything in between. Beyond learning how to grow in any space, the pages of Thomas’ book are therapeutic in that you’ll find newfound freedom and acquire patience, compassion, and perspective. She hopes to inspire us all to take control of what enters our bodies and to spread the good word that food security is within our reach, as long as we’re willing to get our hands dirty. This is the perfect book to help you plan your springtime gardens!

Roxanne Ahern dedicates her book to all the microbes out there, so you know it will be an excellent guide to growing delicious food alongside Mother Nature. If homesteading is something you’ve dreamed of doing, this book is for you! Ahern offers tips and tricks for generating income on a small farm and planning a business. Think bees for honey, sheep for wool, eggs, fresh bread, cut flowers, all-natural art, and more. She’ll help you with a checklist for your land search and even offers advice on how to retrofit urban and suburban areas for food production. Beyond proving that high-yielding gardens are possible with permaculture, chapters will also teach readers the ins and out of foraging, food preservation techniques, and baking and cooking with sourdough culture! This book will help you dream big and realize that anything is possible. We could use a few more homesteaders in the world, so grab a copy to curl up with this winter. Happy homesteading!

We can all stand to make our yards, patios, or balconies more climate-friendly, and Climate-Wise Landscaping strives to help us accomplish this critical goal. In this book, authors Sue Reed and Ginny Stibolt offer concrete, easy-to-implement ideas for our outdoor spaces to help mitigate the effects of climate change. From creating native and wild meadow gardens to lawn replacement and wise plant selection, the chapters in this book describe how even the smallest of steps can have a big impact on our surrounding environments. In each section, the authors explain why particular measures are essential and the actions you can take to make them happen. Creating a climate-friendly space is not very difficult, and these pages prove it! You’ll leave this book a better gardener and more confident in your ability to live alongside Nature.

Let’s face it; news headlines go from bad to worse these days. We’re constantly bombarded with messages about the planet’s dire situation and how the clock is ticking. The current climate crisis and the feelings of doom can undoubtedly take their toll on our mental health, and this book offers strategies for coping with climate-related anxieties. The authors, Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Dr. Patrick Kennedy, recommend scaling our fears down; rather than focusing on everything wrong with the planet, think about the small actions millions worldwide are taking to mitigate the effects of climate change. The book recommends various steps to help ease our fears and stresses, like creating an organic garden or becoming an environmental activist. This book is a true gem and is one of the first to address the vital issue of mental health and climate anxiety. If you ever feel those fears creeping into the back of your mind, Turning The Tide on Climate Anxiety is a must-read.